The sky above Gangtok is set to breathe freer with the district administration’s Mission Clean Sky.
A campaign has begun in the Sikkim capital to remove the town’s tangled web of overhead telecom and Internet wires. Not only do they ruin the view from the hill town, they also pose hurdles during rescue operations.
For years, the crisscrossing cables dangling over Gangtok’s roads and alleys have been a sore sight for local residents and tourists alike.
“Visitors often remark that while Gangtok’s streets remain neat and tidy, the chaotic jumble of wires casts an eyesore on its picture-postcard landscape,” said an administrative source.
Worse, these hanging cables threaten to obstruct rescue operations during emergencies when speed matters, the official added.
The Gangtok district administration, along with the Gangtok Municipal Corporation, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and various other related departments, has swung into action since Friday.
Mission Clean Sky will be executed in phases, starting at MG Marg and Lal Bazaar, followed by the highways, eventually extending across all streets and alleys.
The following steps are being implemented:
Clearing clutter: Removal of unused, defunct, and dead wires.
Go underground or streamline: Wherever possible, cables will be shifted underground; elsewhere, they will be bundled neatly into grid-like patterns. No loose criss-crossing wires will be permitted.
Neatly named: Internet service providers must organise wires in proper boxes with their names or move them into private premises instead of public land.
Old poles junked: Old, legacy poles of the BSNL or the power department will be removed to prevent misuse.
A source said that an official order has been issued, granting telecom and ISPs the right of passage along pre-existing ledges and other structures, provided they don’t deface the property.
The administration called upon householders and business owners to cooperate for the greater good of the city.
Bengal’s Darjeeling, long trapped by jumbled overhead wires, would benefit from such initiatives.